Being There
by FringeScience23
Summary: Callie wasn't there when Arizona needed her, how can she make it up to her? Alternative ending to 6x08. Callie/Arizona. First GA story.


_A/N – Because I was screaming at the TV when Arizona was crying outside the apartment building and Callie didn't even hug her. Bahh. It differs a bit from the rest of the episode from that point. Spoilers for 6x08, because I know some people haven't seen it yet._

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* * *

_**Being There**_  
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Callie stopped as she went to press the elevator button. Peering out of the glass door, she could still make out the figure of Arizona on the far side of the road. The blonde was in the process of hailing a cab.

"Damn it," Callie shouted, slamming her hand on the wall. She knew she shouldn't have just let her go like she had.

"Arizona," she yelled, running out of the door and down the steps of the building, "Wait. Arizona,"

The blonde looked up, blinking against a few drops of rain that were beginning to fall from the sky. She shook her head and got into the cab. The car pulled away as a loud crack of thunder caused Callie to jump.

"Crap," she sighed, as the rain began to fall heavily.

* * *

Callie braced herself for questions as she walked back into her apartment, but instead of the curiousness she was expecting, she found that the party had moved into full swing, despite Arizona's reaction. The anger bubbled up inside her, and Callie wasn't sure if she was angry at herself or at everyone for carrying on the festivities.

"If you hadn't noticed, the party's over," she said loudly, glaring at the crowd.

"Seems a shame to waste all you eff..." Dr. Avery started, before he was cut off by Mark,

"Dr. Avery," he warned narrowing his eyes at the young doctor, "The party continues at my place," he announced, picking up a beer bottle and pointing towards the door.

"That's right, just across the hall, Lexie will lead the way," he leant over to give his girlfriend a quick kiss, "I'll be right over."

Mark watched as everyone filed out of the door before he turned to Callie, who was pacing up and down in the small kitchen.

"Callie," he began, walking up to his best friend.

"She's crying and I left her. Her patient died and she's upset and I just let her go," she rambled, shaking her head.

"Wait, wait, her patient died, she wasn't upset about the party?" Mark asked, grabbing Callie's forearms and forcing her to stand still.

"Yes, and probably the party as well and I don't know what to do. Arizona doesn't cry, well not over things like this. I cry, I'm the crier, I've never been the comforter," she sighed, "What do I do?"

"Callie," Mark said, "Go after your girlfriend, let her yell at you, hug her and tell her it'll be okay."

Callie bit her lip, as she looked at Mark, "Do you think that will be okay, I mean what if she doesn't want me to go see if she's okay. What if I make it worse?"

"Hey," Mark said, holding his hands up, "You asked for my advice, I gave you my advice. That is what I would do."

Callie fell silent as she thought about it. Mark was right, she mused, and at least if she went after Arizona, the blonde couldn't accuse her of not caring. And she did care. A lot.

"Since when did you become so good at advice?" Callie asked, a slight hint of a smile gracing her lips.

"Since forever," Mark teased. "Now go."

Callie smiled at Mark and then headed for the door. Remembering that it was raining she pulled on a coat before leaving, letting Mark close the door behind him.

"Thank you," she shouted to him as she headed quickly down the hallway.

"Anytime," Mark replied, smiling and shaking his head as he entered his own apartment.

* * *

Arizona pulled her coat tighter around herself as she made her way down the front steps of Seattle Grace. She couldn't get Wallace's face out of her mind, she couldn't shake the guilt she still felt, and she didn't really feel like dealing with it on her own.

Callie had promised to deal with everyone at the party and although Arizona had felt a slight pang of disappointment that her girlfriend had been so off-hand earlier, she knew just from Callie's expression that she hadn't quite known what to do. All Arizona wanted now was a hug from her girlfriend and do something that didn't involve birthdays, or surgeries, or dead kids.

Pulling her phone out of her bag, Arizona dialled Callie's number, she just wanted to make sure everyone had gone, the last thing she needed was going back to an apartment full of people.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Callie asked, biting her lip. She had just been informed by one of the nurses that Arizona had already left.

"She left about a half hour ago Dr. Torres," the blonde nurse informed her. "I can have her paged if you nee..."

"No, thank you, it's okay," Callie quickly thanked the nurse and reached for her phone. "Damn it," she exclaimed, as she realised that in her hurry to go after Arizona, she had forgotten to pick it up.

* * *

Oblivious to the fact that Callie was at the hospital trying to find her, Arizona was still ringing Callie's cell as she pushed the key into the door of her girlfriend's apartment. The blonde breathed a sigh of relief when she realised the apartment was empty, but the ringing phone on the counter caught her attention.

She frowned as she picked up Callie's phone, and didn't hear Cristina as she came out of her room.

"Before you ask, I have no idea where she is," Cristina said, before Arizona could even get a word in.

Arizona nodded slowly. It hurt her that Callie has just disappeared. She thought that maybe once, Callie would be there for her when she was having a crisis. She had been there so much for Callie. Oblivious to Cristina's watching eyes she pondered what to do.

She could go back to her own apartment and wallow in her grief, she could go back to the hospital and throw herself into her work, or...

Arizona spotted an almost full bottle of tequila on the coffee table. She knew she shouldn't. She rarely drank alcohol, and when she did she almost never had spirits. But she had had a few times in her life where the blind numbness of an alcohol haze had provided some semblance of relief.

She snatched up the bottle, and a plate of sugar donuts that just happened to be on the same table and stalked into Callie's bedroom.

"It's nice to see you too," Cristina half-heartedly called behind the blonde. She had enough of her own problems. The last thing she needed was getting stuck between Callie and Arizona.

Still, she decided to wait up to warn her room mate when she got back, of what was waiting for her in her bedroom.

* * *

It was an hour before Callie made it home. She had stopped by Arizona's apartment to check if she was home, but all the lights were off. She'd thought about using her key, but several loud knocks had gotten no answer and she didn't want to piss off Arizona by barging in when she wasn't wanted. She settled it with herself that she would call her girlfriend in the morning.

"Where have you been?" came Cristina's voice as Callie walked through the door.

"I was out looking for Arizona," Callie shook her head, "I don't think she wants to see me," she sighed, flopping down onto the sofa next to Cristina.

"She's in your bedroom," Cristina commented flippantly, changing the channels on the TV.

"She's here?" Callie asked, jumping up off of the sofa, "When'd she get here?"

"About an hour ago," Cristina said, glancing at her watch, "Grabbed that bottle of tequila and a plate of donuts and went into your bedroom."

Callie's mouth dropped open. Arizona didn't drink, well certainly not tequila anyway. "You let her take a bottle of tequila, she doesn't drink spirits!" Callie said incredulously.

"Hey. _I _am your room mate, _not_ your girlfriend's babysitter. I stayed up to warn you. You should be grateful." Cristina retorted, switching off the TV by the remote. "I'm going to bed. If you're gonna fight, do it quietly, I'm on a double shift tomorrow."

"Thanks," Callie called out as Cristina shut her bedroom door. She put her head in her hands as she kicked off her shoes.

"Arizona," she said quietly as she knocked lightly on the bedroom door, "Ari," she tried again, when she got no answer, cracking the door open slightly.

Callie sucked in a breath at the sight before her. Arizona was half dressed and sprawled on the bed, her curly hair unruly and there was sugar on the bedsheets. The brunette winced when she spotted the more than- half empty bottle of tequila on the nightstand.

Sitting down carefully next to the blonde, Callie leaned over to brush the hair from her face. She felt a twang of pain when she noticed the expression on her face was pained.

"I'm sorry," Callie whispered, stroking her thumb softly across Arizona's cheek.

The action must ave caused the blonde to stir, because she started mumbling something that Callie couldn't understand. A small hand batted Callie's away from her face and Arizona clumsily pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Ari..." Callie began, but she was cut off by Arizona instigating a forceful kiss.

Callie relaxed into the kiss for a moment, but the sharp tang of alcohol she could taste on Arizona's tongue forced her back to her senses. She pulled away, and held Arizona gently by the shoulders.

"What are you doing?" the brunette asked.

"You know what I'm doing," Arizona said, an odd grin on her face. The blonde thrust her hand up Callie's top. Callie bit back a moan as Arizona's nails scratched lightly at her nipple through her bra, but she managed to collect her thoughts enough to grasp Arizona's hand and take it in her own.

"No, I mean this. This, drinking thing," Callie said, trying her hardest to make eye contact with Arizona, but the blonde was having none of it.

"Oh I don't know," Arizona said, shrugging her shoulders and stumbling slightly over her words, "It was there, oh and you weren't. And there were donuts. There were donuts Callie," she said, bursting into hysterical laughter.

"Arizona," Callie said, struggling to keep her voice even, "Ari, you're scaring me here," she admitted. If Callie thought she was out of her depth earlier, she was definitely drowning now.

"And I was scared earlier," Arizona shouted, and her laughter stopped. For the first time that evening, Arizona made eye contact with Callie, and the brunette almost wished she hadn't, because the pain swimming in those beautiful blue eyes was almost to much to bear.

"I was scared earlier. I was scared that I was being a bad doctor," Arizona said quietly, her voice cracking with unshed tears, "I was scared that I wouldn't be able to save him. And I couldn't. He died." Arizona let out a choked sob.

Callie squeezed Arizona's hands in her own, she was slightly unsure of what to do. Pulling the blonde into a hug now seemed like it would stop the conversation, and Callie was sure there was more Arizona needed to get off her chest.

"Wallace died, and his parents... his parents still think I did all I could." Arizona shook her head, blinking back tears, "But they're wrong and I have to live with that."

"Ari," Callie said, shakily, blinking back her own tears that were pricking at her eyes.

"And most of the time," Arizona said, silent tears running down her face, "T-there is enough joy in w-what I do, that I can...I-I can take it all and deal with it."

There was no mistaking the fact that Arizona had had far too much to drink, with the way she was slurring her words, but still Callie sat and listened intently to her girlfriend.

"But some days. I just d-don't have any joy left," the blonde admitted, sniffling through her tears, "I n-needed you today Callie," Arizona bit her lip, "I really, really needed you to be here for me. Just once."

"Arizona, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," Callie apologised, taking Arizona's face gently in her palms and brushing away the blondes tears with her thumbs.

Arizona reached up and grabbed Callie's wrists gently, "And it hurt. I-it hurt that you weren't here 'cause... 'cause I love you Callie. I love you and I would do anything...anything for you," Arizona said, nodding her head slightly.

Callie reeled from the disappointment she felt as Arizona relayed how hurt she'd been, but there was also a flutter in her stomach from Arizona's declaration of love. And it wasn't, it was most definitely not just a drunken 'I love you' not judging by the look in the blondes eyes. It both scared and thrilled Callie as she quickly realised she felt the same way.

"Listen to me. I never, never meant to hurt you," Callie explained, unable anymore to stop her own tears from beginning to slide down her cheeks., "I didn't know how to react. I didn't, I was scared of making it worse for you. Just tell me what I have to do to make you feel better," Callie pleaded, "Because God, I love you too Ari. I love you so much."

Arizona managed a smile through her tears, and her eyes glistened in the dim lamp light.

"You're here. Just be here. Okay?"

"Okay," Callie replied nodding, "Okay."

Callie reached out and gathered the blonde in her arms and as if somehow she had been waiting for permission, Arizona let out a choked sob as she rested her head on Callie's shoulder.

"It's okay," Callie whispered, as Arizona completely broke down. Arizona clutched at the back of Callie's jacket, twisting fistfuls of the material in her hands as she sobbed.

Callie pulled the blonde closer, stroking her hair gently in an attempt to soothe her. The action seemed to have the opposite effect though, as Arizona just cried harder. Callie sighed and settled for holding her girlfriend tightly and paying no notice to the hot salty tears that were staining her jacket. A few of Callie's own tears were lost in Arizona's hair as the brunette held her closer.

* * *

Callie lost track of the amount of time that had been sat entwined on the bed, but Arizona's sobs had quieted to intermittent sniffles and from the way she had fallen limp in her arms, the brunette guessed she was on her way to passing out. Not that she was surprised, she thought, as she caught sight of the bottle again. Callie started the process of untangling herself from Arizona, which proved to be harder than she thought it would, with the blonde, tightening her grip as she tried to move.

Callie pressed a kiss to Arizona's forehead. "I'll be right back okay."

Arizona mumbled something incoherent and finally let go of Callie's jacket, which the brunette shrugged off as she stood up. She went to the bathroom, to brush her teeth and get a wash cloth and a glass of water for Arizona.

Upon returning to the bedroom, Callie' heart swelled as she saw Arizona, sprawled in much the same position as eh had been earlier, but the pain that had been etched onto her face was almost gone.

She got changed for bed quickly, throwing on an old T-shirt, before she went over to Arizona. She brushed the wayward curls back from Arizona's face and gently wiped the wash cloth over her eyes and cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks tear stained and blotchy but she was still the most beautiful thing Callie had ever seen. The brunette briefly wondered how she had gotten so lucky.

"Ari," she whispered, shaking the blonde gently, "You need to drink some of this," she ordered, helping a groggy Arizona to sit up.

"Don't want it," Arizona complained, pushing the glass away.

Biting back a smile, Callie tried again, "Trust me, you're gonna appreciate this in the morning. Now come on," Callie spoke, as if she were talking to a small child.

Finally getting Arizona to drink the water, she went and refilled the cup and placed it on the night stand along with a couple of Advil for the morning. She removed the bottle of tequila and placed it on the floor out of sight.

Callie switched off the lamp and crawled onto the bed, only just realising the extent of her exhaustion. She pulled the covers up over both of them, and kissed Arizona on the cheek before settling back into her pillow.

"I don't even like tequila," Arizona suddenly remarked, causing Callie to jump at the sudden noise.

"B-but I do like you, a lot," the blonde continued and even in the darkness Callie could tell that she was smiling.

Arizona shifted her way across the bed until she was spooning with Callie, and the brunette wrapped her arms around the blondes waist.

"I love you," Callie whispered, burying her face in the crook of Arizona's neck.

"Loveyoutoo," Arizona replied, the drunken mumbling not taking anything away from the meaning for Callie, and as Arizona settled in her arms, the rhythm of the blondes soft breathing soon lulled Callie into a peaceful sleep.

**_FIN_**

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_A/N: So it's 3am, and I have a geology report to finish by 11am in the morning, but this would just not get out of my head. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm a new fan of this pairing, so i hope I did them the justice they deserve. Because they're awesome :) Thanks for reading._


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